Lennon seemed to enjoy using his iconic status and excellent work with creating music to make political statements. He supported peace through his songs, especially those written after he started his solo career. He had many radical views on politics, and having grown up a bit of a troublemaker, it seemed natural that he would find himself in frequent conflict with the United States government. His mother’s tragic early death or his birth during a war might have had something to do with his feelings towards the war, but more than likely, he was able to be as involved as he was because of his Beatles fame.
John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England during a German air raid. When he was sixteen, he started a band known as the “Quarry Men,” which soon became the international sensation known as The Beatles. In September, 1969, John Lennon left the group and became a solo artist. As a solo artist, his songs became much more reflective of politics and the Vietnam War. His views were so radical and socialist that the FBI often harassed him and tried to kick him out of the United States after he moved there in 1971. Overall, John Lennon was an incredibly famous and incredibly wealthy man whose most important contributions to changing social issues were in writing and performing his music.
Lennon was against any sort of killing. He was not just antiwar, he was pro-peace. Lennon, being very wealthy, would use much of his money for peace campaigning. He wanted to treat the issue of peace somewhat like a charity and make it an economic issue for which many people would fund, but he was willing to use much of his own money to support his cause.
Important Music: Give Peace a Chance (1969), Imagine (1971), the album Some Time in New York City reflects mainly on political issues
Quotes: “Imagine there’s no countries/It isn’t hard to do/Nothing to kill or die for/And no religion too/Imagine all the people living life in peace.”
“All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
“What we're really doing is sending out a message to the world, mainly to the youth, especially the youth or anybody, really, that's interested in protesting for peace or protesting against any forms of violence... There's many ways of protest, and this is one of them. And anybody could grow their hair for peace or give up a week of their holiday for peace or sit in a bag for peace. Protest against peace, anyway, but peacefully, because we think that peace is only got by peaceful methods, and to fight the establishment with their own weapons is no good, because they always win, and they have been winning for thousands of years. They know how to play the game violence, and it's easier for them when they can recognize you and shoot you.”
References: Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez
Movement: Antiwar movement, among others
Lennon seemed to enjoy using his iconic status and excellent work with creating music to make political statements. He supported peace through his songs, especially those written after he started his solo career. He had many radical views on politics, and having grown up a bit of a troublemaker, it seemed natural that he would find himself in frequent conflict with the United States government. His mother’s tragic early death or his birth during a war might have had something to do with his feelings towards the war, but more than likely, he was able to be as involved as he was because of his Beatles fame.
John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England during a German air raid. When he was sixteen, he started a band known as the “Quarry Men,” which soon became the international sensation known as The Beatles. In September, 1969, John Lennon left the group and became a solo artist. As a solo artist, his songs became much more reflective of politics and the Vietnam War. His views were so radical and socialist that the FBI often harassed him and tried to kick him out of the United States after he moved there in 1971. Overall, John Lennon was an incredibly famous and incredibly wealthy man whose most important contributions to changing social issues were in writing and performing his music.
Lennon was against any sort of killing. He was not just antiwar, he was pro-peace. Lennon, being very wealthy, would use much of his money for peace campaigning. He wanted to treat the issue of peace somewhat like a charity and make it an economic issue for which many people would fund, but he was willing to use much of his own money to support his cause.
Important Music: Give Peace a Chance (1969), Imagine (1971), the album Some Time in New York City reflects mainly on political issues
Quotes: “Imagine there’s no countries/It isn’t hard to do/Nothing to kill or die for/And no religion too/Imagine all the people living life in peace.”
“All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
“What we're really doing is sending out a message to the world, mainly to the youth, especially the youth or anybody, really, that's interested in protesting for peace or protesting against any forms of violence... There's many ways of protest, and this is one of them. And anybody could grow their hair for peace or give up a week of their holiday for peace or sit in a bag for peace. Protest against peace, anyway, but peacefully, because we think that peace is only got by peaceful methods, and to fight the establishment with their own weapons is no good, because they always win, and they have been winning for thousands of years. They know how to play the game violence, and it's easier for them when they can recognize you and shoot you.”
References: Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Joan Baez
Works Cited
"John Lennon." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/john-lennon-9379045>.
*Lennon, John. “Give Peace a Chance.” 1 Jun. 1969.
*Lennon, John. "Imagine." Apple. 11 Oct. 1971.
*Lennon, John. "Peace in Toronto Interview." Toronto, Canada. Broadcast. 19 Dec. 1969. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7wzxOvb2fg>
Maass, Alan. "John Lennon's Revolution." John Lennon's Revolution. N.p., 6 Oct. 2006. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://socialistworker.org/2006-2/604/604_13_Lennon.shtml>.
Whitehead, John W. "John Lennon: The Last Great Anti-War Activist." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/john-lennon-anti-war-activist_b_1948185.html>.